Waste Management has come back with a new plan to transport waste by rail which does not require double trucking it through western Queens.  Waste Management will expand their site by purchasing a nearby parcel of land which can accommodate loading of the trains on site.  Private roads between the two sites will be utilized to prevent disrupting businesses that share the community driveway at the original site.  This eliminates the need for the trucks to haul the garbage to the Maspeth Railyard, which is in close proximity to homes.

Here are the details and here is a the Solid Waste Management Plan's fact sheet.

We thank our elected officials for their advocacy and Waste Management for their open mindedness and responsiveness.

Mary Arnold and Mary Parisen from CURES - Civics United for Railroad and Environmental Solutions - attended a recent COMET meeting and discussed pollution problems in our area caused by freight trains. The presentation included an informative slide show, Particulate pollution is a serious health problem in all of western Queens and one goal is to get the railroads to use cleaner technology.

COMET is a member of CURES - Civics United for Railroad Environmental Solutions.  The goal of this new group is to pressure elected officials for changes with respect to railroad pollution, emissions and practices.  As mentioned in the Times Ledger, "The group wants both the MTA and the state Department of Transportation to allocate more funds for inspections of trains, redirecting garbage containers to barge transfer stations and for retrofits to the New York & Atlantic Railway’s aging fleet of locomotives."  Federal stimulus money has been allocated for similar purposes in other districts.  We want some of it to come to western Queens to upgrade the LIRR's locomotives to make them cleaner and quieter and purchase new garbage containers that seal in odors adequately.  We also are pushing for more frequent cleanups along the tracks to discourage dumping.

Read more: Tensions rise over boro rail [Times Ledger]

By Christina Wilkinson

The City of New York is planning to authorize Waste Management’s garbage transfer station on Review Avenue in Long Island City which will accept the solid waste collected curbside from sanitation truck routes throughout Queens Community Boards 1-6. The waste will be delivered to the transfer station via an estimated 65 sanitation truck trips per day. Waste Management will then load the waste onto their trucks for transport to trains at the Maspeth Railyard at Maspeth Avenue and Rust Street. This will add another estimated 50 truck trips per day. The trains will then carry the waste to the Fresh Pond Railyard until it is ready for its rail journey out-of-state.  While hauling trash via rail rather than truck is a step in the right direction environmentally, this plan is flawed for several reasons.

- The routes that the trucks will take to the transfer station are undefined and will cause trucks to come through residential areas. For example, the Maspeth Truck Bypass Plan has yet to be put into effect by DOT and sanitation trucks heading to and from LIC drive down Grand Avenue regularly.
- The same rail line that the trains will take to Glendale run right next to Waste Management’s property. Therefore it is unnecessary for them to haul it to the Maspeth Railyard. Paying Waste Management to truck the waste to the railyard is a ridiculous waste of taxpayer money, especially since the Varick Avenue Transfer Station in Brooklyn will transport their waste via rail to the Fresh Pond Railyard. There is no reason why the same can’t be done here.
- The City is upgrading its rail-barge system at 65th Street in Brooklyn but Waste Management will not be utilizing that because it says their containers do not fit that system. The containers should fit the system that is least likely to cause environmental damage and adversely impact residents’ quality-of-life; the system should not be driven by the type of containers they have on hand. 
- The proposed plan will increase pollution and increase asthma and cancer rates as there are a number of people living near the railyard.
- A document on the Department of Sanitation’s website shows way more truck trips (81 to the transfer station and 144 to the railyard) than what WM is reporting now (50 to the transfer station and 65 to the railyard). 
- The Vallone family of Queens political fame has collected more than $1M in fees to lobby for this project since 2002.

Area civic organizations, our local elected officials and political candidates and Community Board 5 all agree that there has to be a better way to dispose of Queens’ garbage.

Photos of Waste Management rally held on 7/18/2009 may be found here.